A pulp foam with highly improved physical strength, fire-resistance and antibiosis by incorporation of chitosan and CPAM

Bio-inspired borate cross-linked pulp foam (PF) with high porosity and low density can be widely used in many fields. However, PF is flammable, and lack of mechanical strength and antibacterial activity. To solve these is-sues, an ultra-strong PF was prepared by incorporation of chitosan and cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM). Results showed that the obtained PF exhibited highly improved mechanical properties (the compressive strength (485 kPa at a strain of 50%) was over 6 times higher compared with the borate cross-linked PF without chitosan and CPAM, and it was even higher than most of the reported cellulose-based porous materials). Also, the prepared PF has good performance on fire-retardance (hard to light), thermal insulation, antibiosis and sound absorption, due to the synergistic actions of borate, chitosan and CPAM. Additionally, spent liquor in preparing PF could be fully recycled, and thus this sustainable approach has potential for large-scale production of high-performance PF.

Automated summary

An ultra-strong bio-inspired borate cross-linked pulp foam was prepared by incorporating chitosan and cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM). The obtained foam exhibited significantly improved mechanical properties and showed excellent performance in fire-retardance, thermal insulation, antibiosis, and sound absorption. This study has great potential for large-scale production of high-performance foam materials.